Cornucopia

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time living in Bangkok some almost ten years ago. And one of the great things I loved about living in Bangkok was (and still is) the inexpensive, fabulous food. Sure there are lots of nice restaurants serving Royal Thai Cuisine and the like but for everyday fare I’d be extremely happy with the street food. While you get a whole lot of guides and blogs telling you to go to places as Sukhumvit soi 38 for a whole array of street food carts, I never really felt the need to go there as I had a lot to choose from within the vicinity of my flat alone. Here are just a few examples:

Service with a smile. Freshly fried tod man pla or fish cakes. The fish paste is made on-site daily (maybe even a few times a day), infused with fresh herbs and shaped into patties. These are then served with a sweet cucumber relish.

The shorter sausages at the rear are called sai krog isaan, a slightly fermented pork and rice sausage popular in Northeast Thailand. The longer sausages are called sai ua; also made of pork and usually loaded with chilies, coriander, garlic, kaffir lime leaves and other aromatics. These are all grilled on coals and are fabulous eaten with som tam (papaya salad) and sticky rice.

Roti‘s also available on the streets. Super thin elastic dough whipped and stretched then fried in oil. Only its not served with the usual curry or gravy on the side. These are filled with either shredded chicken (roti gai) and a freshly cracked egg and served with a vegetable chutney on the side; or sliced bananas and an egg (roti gluai) then drizzled over the top with condensed milk. I favor the latter with the slightly crisp, slightly chewy roti on the outside with the rich, gooey bananas and soft cooked eggs on the inside.

Every block in Bangkok probably has its own cooked food market. Large covered structures with independent stalls offering their own specialties. Depicted on the top frame is a typical vendor’s setup; cooking food to order. And below is an ambulant vendor selling, if I remember correctly, something like laarb or ground meat salad with herbs and toasted rice powder. Food is within reach anywhere.

Thailand has a lot of varieties of noodle dishes. From the ubiquitous pad thai to gwaeytiao ruea (boat noodles) to pad see ew (noodles fried in soy sauce), my favorite seems to be one of the most basic ones called ba mee haeng or literally “egg noodles, dry”. There are as many versions of this as the number of people who make it but my favorite “aunt” who runs this shophouse not far from my old apartment satisfies the most. She makes this by blanching some springy egg noodles, bean sprouts and a handful of greens in some broth, drains them and tops with fishballs, sliced meats, you tiao and fried wonton skins then drizzles some lard on the top. I then fine tune this with some nam plaa (fish sauce), chili flakes, sugar and vinegar on the table. To this very day, whenever I’m in Bangkok, which I try to do every year, I swing by for this particular bowl.

Fruits are big in Thailand. Big and sweet. The mangoes I love, especially eaten with sweetened sticky rice cooked in coconut milk and then topped with salty crispy beans. Thai variety mangoes have this flavor and texture profile similar to what we locally refer to as “Indian” mangoes, but like three times the size. Farangs orguavas are as huge as softballs. I miss eating the slightly pickled variety called farang dong sold along with other fresh fruit on ice, typically carted along everywhere in the metropolis.

What’s interesting to point out is that most vendors are one dish ventures; cooking only one type of food day in and day out, with perfected recipes and an insistence of using only fresh ingredients. It really is quick service with fine dining kitchen mentality. And with most street treats being in the Bht20 to 50 range, its exactly the type of fast food I wouldn’t mind eating every day.

It was golden brown, glistening in all its newly fried glory and looked like a little disc. My maternal grandmother handed it to me with a dollop of sweetened mango pickles and encouraged me to take a bite. At first, I was hesitant being only six or seven at the time, pizza this was not. …read »

Crunchy…Various tasty Favors…Pairs well with Alcohol…Enough said. Actually to elaborate just a little bit more, Nagaraya Cracker Nuts have been my all time go to snack, whether at home, away at the beach or any other junk food appropriate occasion I can think of. My favorite flavors are Barbeque and Original. For alcoholic pairings, I …read »

I have started to listen to audio books lately as I go to and from work. I find that it relaxes me and takes my mind away from the stress that driving in traffic brings. Last year, I was able to finish eight audio books with subjects ranging from history, fiction and Michael Jordan. Not …read »

Over a late dinner recently, I was telling Kitchyart how difficult it was to write articles before blogging became popular. Photos were not used that much, this forced the writer to convey what he wants to say exclusively through words. As an example, I told her about an article I wrote about Peter Luger Steak …read »

China has had ties with the Philippines since the pre-Hispanic 11th century (some say even earlier than that). And it was not uncommon for traders from the Mainland to settle, marry Filipinas and have families; thus giving rise to the Chinoys. Which makes some facets of Chinese culture, especially food, so ingrained in our systems …read »

Over the weekend, one of my friends JM mentioned to me that he had heard other people comment to him that our blog should post more negative reviews of restaurants. This is not the first time that I have heard this comment. It has been repeated to me frequently through the years. I cannot say …read »

A few months ago, Noel Ermitaño, who writes one of the best blogs on wine called Eye On Wine, broached the subject online of whether it would be possible to do a recreation of the grand meal depicted in the 1987 movie, Babette’s Feast. Within minutes he got a reply from Chef Cyrille Soenen (of …read »

In our home, my Ibanag mom calls cow udders as “Pukal” but in Tagalog it’s called “Sinuso”. I thought of writing about this because it’s been years since my family encountered this dish again and I learned that’s this is not quite a common part to eat today. I’ve done a bit of reading online …read »

I found myself at the airport parking lot one evening, looking for something to chew on. Food choices at the airport are pretty slim, so I took a peek at the coffee shop. I found something that I hadn’t eaten in ages: egg pie. I wasn’t sure if the slice of egg pie was so …read »

Hi, my name is Sanju and I am a Twinkie virgin. Well, no longer as I was finally able to try this iconic confection recently. I actually had two chances within the past few months. Initially, I was gifted one by Richard of talesfromthetummy.com. However, my kids ate the aforementioned Twinkie before I had …read »

I know that this is a food blog, however, I will divert from regular programming to talk about the recent win of our Gilas National Basketball Team against Korea. I normally leave the sportswriting to my friend Rick Olivares. Check out his excellent blog Bleachers Brew for more in depth analysis when you have the …read »

There’s a big chance that you’ve all seen jars of speculoos spread, both smooth and crunchy, in all forms of social media. I am guilty of posting a couple of photos myself. I was lucky enough to have discovered this a year before it became extremely popular through some friends who brought me a jar …read »

The past two years have been great. I traveled quite a bit, ate in a few Michelin starred restaurants and many holes in the wall as well. I also collaborated on a book and met many new friends along the way. Unfortunately, enjoying life too much has consequences. I gained 20 lbs. Despite exercising 6 …read »

Did you ever drink Yakult as a child? I still remember the TV ads talking about Lactobacilli Shirota strain and a flash of the digestive tract on the screen with the matching Yakult tune. It seemed to me that every home had a pack of Yakult in the fridge since I had so much of …read »

Oxfam is an international organization that aims to educate people about the related issues of climate change, food security, agriculture and social disparities. GROW is Oxfam’s new campaign for better ways to grow, share and live together. A campaign for the billions of us who eat food and over a billion of men and women …read »